


chaldea correspondence log

by ninata



Category: Fate/Grand Order
Genre: Canon Compliant, Character Study, Gen, Mostly., Multiverse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-06 05:30:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15879528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninata/pseuds/ninata
Summary: An open-ended, multichapter work of different bits and pieces of things that happen in Chaldea. Infrequent updates, most likely. Tags will be added as we go. (remember to check the beginning of a chapter for warnings.)





	chaldea correspondence log

**Author's Note:**

> hey everyone!  
> for this first chapter, i don't really have any warnings, but i hope this is something i actually do stuff with!  
> for now, this first one is alexander and iskandar arguing with each other over lunch whether its good to ghost someone or not, essentially. el melloi ii's the subject matter but he doesn't really show up.

“Why do you shirk him so?” Alexander asked, musing over his older self as he picked at the mess food in Chaldea’s cafeteria.

The crowded hall was more private than it would’ve been empty. Nobody was paying attention to the two, Iskandar hunched over his tray and looking at the oden they had been served as if he wasn't familiar with it already. No real need to worry about the subject matter, especially when it was personal rather than business.

“Him? Him who?”

“My teacher.”

“Aristotle isn’t here.” Iskandar pinched a piece of fish meat between his fingers. He wasn’t fond of chopsticks.

“You aren’t funny when you play stupid.” Alexander frowned. Again, he was faced with what he became, and found he didn't like it.

“It isn’t  _ shirking.”  _ Iskandar said after he finished chewing. “I just think the distance is good for him.”

“Good for him? Or you?”

Iskandar paused. He let out a hearty laugh.

“I really was a nosy runt, wasn’t I?”

Alexander’s gaze remained fixed on his other self. He could hear the haze of conversation around them. The gentle knock of hard plastic against plastic as cups were set down, the sharp snap of chopsticks. Lively was good.

Yet his gaze was fixed, brow furrowed. Answers were important. His last teacher had praised his determination. His new one? Well...

“Did he send you after me?” Iskandar seemed bemused, plucking another piece from his bowl, a subtle change in his expression a curse against its heat.

“No. I wanted to know myself.” That happened to be the truth. In fact, Lord El Melloi II blanched every time Iskandar was brought up, shut his lips and refused to address the subject. And not only that, but ever since Iskandar had arrived at Chaldea, El Melloi’s mood had taken a drastic turn for the worse.

Alexander wasn’t stupid. Alexander could connect dots. And he could certainly notice that pathetic, wide-eyed look of anguish that’d cross El Melloi’s haggard features as Iskandar’s back faded into the distance. 

He was curious. Or, perhaps, he had his self interest in mind. Unimportant.

"You've gone silent," Alexander quipped, tapping his nail on the table. "I take it you don't have a response?"

"There isn't much to say." Iskandar waved his hand. “It isn’t as complex as you want it to be.”

“Is that so?” Alexander squinted. “I don’t think he'd agree.”

“Look at you, running around, trying to do work for him. Don't they call that a wing-man these days?”

“It’s—“ An irritated sigh. “Why won’t you just talk about it? Iskandar—“

“Because it isn’t worth concerning yourself over! Don’t you have something better to do? Isn't this annoying for you?”

“Of course not. My teacher’s feelings are valuable in my eyes.”

An eyebrow raise. “What, do  _ you  _ want to pursue him?”

Obviously a joke, but in poor taste. Alexander’s gaze hardened. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Then what the hell has you on this?”

“It’s because it’s embarrassing!”

That answer seemed to surprise Iskandar. Good. Alexander pressed onwards.

“You’re grown men and you can’t even talk about it! It’s obvious how much you meant to him. A master and a servant, if they successfully work together, are bound to feel close! Don’t you see how it hurts him when you say he didn't mean anything to you?!”

Iskandar’s fingertips rubbed into the folds of his skin, the temples by his hairline. Something about it felt superior.

“Do you think putting yourself beyond everyone makes you a proper king? That a conqueror has no room for tenderness?”

_ “Tenderness.  _ You really think you can talk about something like that, kid?”

“I apparently know more of it than you!”

“Don’t you think there’s a reason for that? Have you considered that people grow up?”

"That's—" Fumbling. "We share the same memories."

"And yet, we're different." Iskandar glared. "We may be the same, boy, but you still have a lot to learn. You're naive."

"You're just avoiding the issue again!" Which was true, but he didn't want to get stuck in a loop of 'you don't know what you're talking about'. Avoiding something by calling Iskandar out for avoidance. A tricky game. "So you're old and jaded, now? Is that it? You became too awful of a person to care about the people who care about you? To view them as equal? Nothing pierces that wall you've built?"

"A direct attack, eh?" Iskandar, unconcerned. "Impressive, but it's not going to—"

"He loves you, you know."

"Well aware of that."

"And I'd wager you feel the same, and that's why you're so obtuse about this!"

The look that crossed Iskandar's features meant Alexander had won the battle. Trying not to feel to high and mighty, Alexander continued.

"Maybe you're afraid that if you talked to him, you'd realize again you felt that way. And maybe you're stuck so badly in a rut that you don't want that to change. Maybe you  _ like  _ being detached from everyone, because then you can't get hurt. You're a sorry excuse for a—"

_ "Enough." _

That booming voice echoed loud enough to turn heads. Iskandar didn't even yell— simply spoke with such authority few could resist to direct their attention. A miscalculation on Alexander's part on the privacy of their conversation.

Iskandar folded his arms, red eyes severe as they looked down upon his younger self. "What's your game? Are you sad you don't get your little happy ending, kid? You know how it went for us, you idyllic little runt, and that's not going to change because you wanna feel comfortable with your death."

Alexander swallowed, looking down at his food.

Was it so wrong?

Was it so wrong to want some kind of happier end to himself than an endless conquest? Was he so optimistic to hate a part of what he became, and want to see that change? Was it wrong for him to think El Melloi would match him well?

Was it wrong to resent his older self for inferring his motivations so easily?

His eyes stung, humiliated. In an attempt to recover, he began again.

"You can stay miserable forever, then." Alexander hissed. "You can make him miserable too, and you can be just what I was going to say. A sorry excuse for a man."

"And you can stay a stupid little idealist with no understanding of the world. You can pretend you know more than you do, and you can fire off your analysis of our character all you want. That. Won't. Change."

The attention paid to them had dwindled. At least most servants had manners. The icy look shared between them lingered, the same eyes staring into each other with distaste.

It wasn't often Alexander voiced his concerns. And more than that, he knew they'd return to being civil at the next opportunity.

But for a few moments, he allowed himself that anger at the backwards, cowardly man he knew he would become.

And he despised he became so cold.

And he despised how he turned his back on himself for the sake of his nation.

_ (Somewhere in Chaldea, El Melloi II sneezed for the fifth time in ten minutes.) _

**Author's Note:**

> yeah this is so short i felt weird posting it as a standalone...hopefully when i finish up everything else (yipes, that's an undertaking) and settle into fgo this will be Abundant with Content. as of now i haven't even finished america but i'm also being thrown scraps of meta like a stray dog outside a butchery so! thank's to my boys comun, wist, emily and mikko for that.  
> i guess i'm going to join the leagues of obnoxious multichapter "five hundred ship tag" fanfictions...wish me luck. (it'll probably just be my favorite five ships and a few of my favorite characters outside of them, so. it won't get unreasonable.)  
> hope it was good! ha ha ha. woof  
> also i swear to god if anyone thinks this means i ship alexander/el melloi along with iskandar i'm gonna go nuts. i tried to make it clear alexander is kind of taking the whole stance of "i want that for my older self, not myself" cuz he's like .... fourteeeeen.....listen i gotta draw the line for my own sanity


End file.
